Josh Hight Talks PINES, Alan Moore’s Influence, and Transforming Darkness Into Light

Transmission 259: Interview with Josh Hight

PINES is Josh Hight, the Detroit-born artist formerly of post-punk outfit The Detachment Kit and solo project Irons. His debut EP In His Wake was released September 5 via Semaphore Records, produced by Richard Norris (The Grid) at Metal Box Studios in East Sussex.

Title: In His Wake
Artist: Pines
Genres: Alternative Rock, Americana, Dream Pop, Psychedelic Rock, Shoegaze
Label: Semaphore Records
Description: PINES interview: Josh Hight talks post-punk origins, UK mysticism, and "In His Wake" EP with Richard Norris. September 2024 Semaphore Records.

The three tracks feature Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis) on guitar, Emmett Kelly (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) on guitar and bass, and vocals from Rebecca ‘Dottie’ Cockram (Deary). Shaped by grief and mysticism, the songs merge shoegaze, slow-burn Americana, and psychedelia into music that moves between memory and transcendence.

Coming up in the Detroit post-punk scene with The Detachment Kit, what was in the air back then? What sounds and attitudes from that era are still lodged in your DNA as PINES?

The Detachment Kit came together in Chicago when I was in my early twenties. At that time the city was deep in a post-rock haze, but we were chasing something sharper and more immediate. There was not really a ready-made scene for us, which meant we had to figure it out ourselves.

What’s really stayed with me is the attitude: the do-it-yourself ethic, but also the sense of doing it with people who are like-minded and drawn to what you’re creating. If someone’s interested, give it to them. If someone offers to help, let them. Stay uncompromising, follow what sounds good to you, and trust that like attracts like. That spirit is still in PINES.

You’ve been Irons, you were in The Detachment Kit, and now you’re PINES. Do you see these as separate identities, or just different chapters of the same story? What does “PINES” represent that the others didn’t?

They’re all chapters of the same story, but each has its own character. The Detachment Kit was art-school chaos when I was 21, collaborative, raw, and loud. Irons was me turning inward, more solitary, more fragile, and maybe too bound to my own personal history. With PINES, the music has opened back up. It is still rooted in my experience, but it creates a space for other people to step into. It is collaborative again, with a sense of atmosphere and mystery that I had not reached before. PINES feels expansive in a way the others did not.When did you first sense photography and music could inform each other in your work?

As a visual artist, do you “see” your songs as you write them? Are there cinematic scenes playing out in your head that you’re essentially scoring?

My first real love of visual art came through album covers. Early Depeche Mode and Echo and the Bunnymen covers were huge for me. I would stare at Brian Griffin‘s photographs while listening, completely drawn into how evocative they were. He later became a good friend of mine before he passed, which was a friendship I sought out because his work meant so much.

For me, music and visuals have always been inseparable. I love the idea of sound being visual, of a song painting a myth or a scene. While making this record, Richard and I talked constantly about how things looked, the atmosphere they created, and the imagery they conjured. So yes, I absolutely “see” the songs as I write them.

What was the breaking point where your old solo moniker, Irons, no longer fit the music you were creating?

With Irons, I felt like I was finally making the truest form of what I wanted musically. It was my breakaway from The Detachment Kit. I was singing my own songs, expressing myself in a way that felt emotionally right.

But I was doing almost all of it on my own, and it became hard to sustain. It was not finding the traction it needed. PINES feels like a rebirth of Irons, but this time with the support and collaboration I cannot do without. It reminds me that like-minded people attract each other, and when they do, the project grows richer and more meaningful.

How has living in the UK changed your perspective on your American identity and the musical traditions you came from? Do you hear that distance in the final mix?

I have always been an anglophile. Growing up in the States, I was obsessed with Depeche Mode, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, the more whimsical, fantasy-driven music that came out of labels like 4AD. Those records were the soundtrack to my American life.

Now that I live in England, I am constantly reminded of my American identity. My accent gives me away immediately, and everyone here identifies me with that. It has made me revisit the music I grew up with, from Midwest hardcore and punk to Red House Painters, but with fresh ears.

I am not sure if PINES sounds more American or British, maybe it is a blend. What matters is that it feels new. But my American heritage does seep in. I grew up around Country and Western music, and even if it is not explicit, that twang and storytelling is part of me.

Was there a moment when you realized you needed to explore mysticism and spiritual searching musically?

Yes. I have always been drawn to the idea of a song as a psalm, a chant, or a prayer, something that, through repetition, takes on a life of its own beyond the person who made it. Music has always carried that ritualistic flow for me, but in the last ten years I have become more conscious about exploring what that means.

A turning point was meeting Alan Moore (read our interview with Alan Moore) when I photographed him a few years ago. His perspective pushed me to look inward in order to understand outward, that your view of the world is shaped from within. That is very much in line with his philosophy, and it naturally started to seep into my lyrics and how I present myself as an artist.

You met Richard Norris at a Stone Club event. What was the creative spark in that first conversation that made you both realize you needed to work together?

I went to that Stone Club event in London almost by accident, a friend invited me along. I ran into people I knew, and someone mentioned that Richard had just been talking about me in connection with Jamie Reid. On the train ride back we ended up talking the whole way, realized we lived minutes from each other, and hit it off instantly.

At first it was not even about music. I took some press photos for him, documented a ritual where they were raising a standing stone in a field, and he later scored a short film of mine. We worked on a few visual and fashion projects before the music side emerged. It all happened organically.

The title track, “In His Wake,” deals with some heavy, personal territory. How do you even begin to translate that weight and absence into sound without it becoming crushed by the darkness?

It is a hard song for me to talk about because it is rooted in very personal feelings from the past and how they shape me now. What helped was not avoiding the heaviness but walking through it, creating an emotional landscape that holds both the dark and the light.

For me, the darkness is where the light emerges. You have to sit with how low something can feel in order to recognize the other side. Reflection can be a burden, tethering you to the past, but it is also where meaning lives. That is what the song holds: the frustration of wanting more, the sense of being caught in someone else’s wake, and the awareness that even in the darkest places, you can still glimpse light, even if you cannot identify it yet.

Are there songs that were written for this EP that didn’t make the final cut?

Yes. Some will probably re-emerge on another EP or a full-length album. It was not that they were not good enough, they just were not ready yet. These songs stood out as the right introduction to what PINES is meant to be.

I tend to write in batches, so there are a few from that first round still in the wings, and newer ones coming that feel really exciting. Having this EP as a base makes the next step feel more alive.

Can you recall a specific moment of breakthrough or happy accident during the recording sessions—a sound that appeared out of nowhere and defined a track?

There were a few. Richard and I worked in a very experimental way, making sounds without any expectation, sometimes deliberately creating things that felt unexpected, and then transforming them into textures in the background.

One of my favorite examples is on Fifteen. There is an intro and outro sound that sets the tension of the track. It came from running something through layers of processing until it revealed itself. We both looked at each other like, “Oh, this is it.” It was a total accident, but it became essential.

If you had to point to one piece of gear—a specific guitar, amp, or pedal—that was the “secret weapon” for capturing the atmosphere of In His Wake, what would it be and why?

My 1969 Gibson Melody Maker has always been central to my sound, that guitar is my voice. I also leaned heavily on a Fairfield Circuitry Meet Maude analog delay pedal, which has a character I love. The guitar and vocals were recorded at my home studio, which gave them a certain intimacy.

But honestly, the other secret weapon was Richard’s approach in the studio. He has this balance of analog and digital, always chasing whatever sounds best, whether it is through a cheap amp or straight into the board. He is rooted in now and looking forward, which keeps everything fresh.

What’s next?

Live shows, more recordings, more collaborations. I am also working on a video for Fifteen that I am really excited about. It has been a great year already, and I am looking forward to releasing the EP, building this world further, and seeing how people respond to it.

Photographs courtesy of Pines

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others